College coaches should follow Steve Sarkisian's lead to stop logo disrespect, brawls

This weekend saw a spate of incredibly poor sportsmanship at the conclusion of a number of college football games. The issues arose when schools beat a rival team on the road.

These instances occurred when Michigan upset Ohio State, and Wolverine players tried to plant a school flag on the Buckeye's mid-field logo. It happened again when North Carolina defeated in-state rival North Carlino State. A third instance happened when Arizona State beat Arizona and tried to plant their pitchfork at mid-field.

In every case, a scuffle broke out, with the worst being the Big Ten matchup. Who can blame the home team for defending their home venue from these displays of horrible sportsmanship?

College football coaches must put a stop to midfield brawls

The offending schools' coaching staffs must bear the blame. When Texas beat Texas A&M, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian prevented his players from following the example of the offending players from other schools.

On Sunday, the Big 10 rightfully fined Michigan $100,000 for the events that marred that hard-fought game. Unfortunately, the home team was also fined. That seemed unfair because no one should have to suffer that much disrespect from any opponent. That was an ugly scene in Columbus, but the fault was Michigan's. Hopefully, the ACC and Big 12 will follow suit with fines against UNC and ASU.

There is precedence for how the home players reacted. In 2000, Terrell Owens, then a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, celebrated on the Dallas Cowboys mid-field star logo. Running back Emmitt Smith then celebrated on his own logo during that same game. Still, when Ownes scored again and tried to replicate his shameful celebration, safety George Teague leveled Owens at midfield rather than allow Owens' disrespect.

This is not meant to condone the actions of the Cowboys or the schools this weekend. Those kinds of actions have no place in sports, but the reactions of the home team players are certainly understandable. Coaching staffs should be teaching their charges good sportsmanship and to act like they've experienced wins before instead of the childish actions fans were exposed to this weekend.

There is no place in any sport for the kind of behavior players displayed this weekend, even if you believe players have the right to defend their logos. It was an ugly reflection on all the schools and on sports in general. Hopefully, there will be no more instances of such acts in the future.